


Anticipated

by truethingsproved



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2177310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truethingsproved/pseuds/truethingsproved
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eleven years, nine months, sixteen days, eight hours, thirty-three minutes, ten seconds.</p><p>His timer is the shortest in the family. It’s easier for him, perhaps, to live his life out normally knowing that he will meet his soulmate early in his life. Even the cruelest children can be kinder than adults; even the most unforgiving children will protect other children from less forgiving adults. On the other hand, perhaps it’s more difficult. He must be at his best on that day; he mustn’t let his soulmate think of him as anything less than… well, perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anticipated

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yallaintright](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yallaintright/gifts).



**Eleven years, nine months, sixteen days, eight hours, thirty-three minutes, ten seconds.**

His timer is the shortest in the family. Marianna’s is still running when she buries her second husband mere weeks after her son’s birth. ( _It’s a shame,_ his relatives whisper at the funeral, seeing Marianna in her black dress and black veil, the baby in her arms. He’s quiet for an infant.  _He’ll never know his father. I heard he wasn’t particularly affectionate towards him—didn’t want to raise a child that wasn’t his, even if he agreed to the adoption._ )

It’s easier for him, perhaps, to live his life out normally knowing that he will meet his soulmate early in his life. Even the cruelest children can be kinder than adults; even the most unforgiving children will protect other children from less forgiving adults. On the other hand, perhaps it’s more difficult. He must be at his best on that day; he mustn’t let his soulmate think of him as anything less than… well, perfect.

**Six years, eight months, thirteen days, sixteen hours,  nineteen minutes, twenty-seven seconds.**

Will his soulmate like music, he asks? Will his soulmate be kind? What kinds of soulmates are there, Mama? Will he marry his soulmate, or will they be friend soulmates? Sibling soulmates? Will his soulmate be a man? A woman? Another gender? Mama, can he love many people at once? What if he has  _two_  soulmates?

Marianna presses a kiss to her son’s forehead. I don’t know, my love. You’ll find out soon enough. Go to sleep and get some rest and tomorrow will be here soon.

**Two years, one month, twenty-nine days, four hours, eleven minutes, six seconds.**

He will love his soulmate, he decides, no matter what kind of soulmate they are. When they are afraid he will hold their hand in his and when they are lonely he will find them, and when they are angry he will stand behind them to catch them when that anger gives out, and they collapse.

Emilia wakes in the early hours of the morning again, screaming and crying as if to rouse the dead, and Blaise carefully lays both feet down to stand, pads across the cold hardwood floors in the dusty light of the morning, lowers the side of the crib, takes her up in his arms and rocks her back and forth until she goes back to sleep.

Can someone have his soul, he wonders, when someone else already has his whole heart? He looks at the sleeping child he holds and he kisses the top of her head and decides that he’ll simply have to make his heat bigger to accommodate for all the people he loves.

**23:59:59.**

Blaise will meet his soulmate on the Hogwarts Express. He chooses the nicest clothes he can, brushes the dust from his shoes, and lays them out carefully.

**12:33:42.**

Blaise is awake already when Isabella starts to cry. He collects her from her crib to sing her to sleep, checks on Emilia, climbs into his mother’s bed beside her and lays his head on her shoulder.

Boys with soulmates must be brave. Tonight he can come to his mother for comfort, so that she can curl her arm around his shoulders and promise him that he is very much loved.

**3:19:21.**

It’s a wonder he slept at all. He pulls on his clothes, excited to meet the person he believes just might be his other half. One shoe, then the other.

**00:11:49.**

He scans the crowds one last time before getting onto the train, kissing his mother and sisters goodbye. There’s a compartment up front, and he puts his things there, presses his hand to the window to watch his family until the last possible moment.

His reverie is interrupted by a bored-sounding drawl. “So it’s you, then, is it?” asks the unfamiliar voice, and Blaise turns around to see a pale, sharp-featured blond boy staring at him intently. He glances down at his wrist.

_**00:00:00.** _

The boy holds his own wrist up; it reads the same. Perhaps Blaise shouldn’t smile quite so widely, but he does. “It is.” He holds his hand out to shake. “Blaise Zabini.”

The pale blond boy nods, then takes his hand, shaking firmly, as if he’s been practicing. Blaise watches for some sign of disappointment, some hint of displeasure, but the boy only looks smug and satisfied, as if he couldn’t have chosen someone better himself.

"Draco Malfoy."

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from one of my numerous blogs, prompted by the ineffable Marta. <3


End file.
